Massachusetts paid family and medical leave for restaurant employers

Massachusetts runs its own paid family and medical leave program, known as PFML, and every restaurant that has employees pays into it. It is separate from the state's earned sick time law and separate from federal leave. For an owner, the practical questions are simple. Do I owe a contribution, how much comes out of my staff's pay, what must I post and tell new hires, and what happens to my schedule when a line cook is out for twelve weeks? This guide answers those. Check the Department of Family and Medical Leave, or DFML, on mass.gov before you act, since rates are reset each year.

Who counts toward the 25-person threshold?

The state divides employers into two groups by the number of covered individuals on the payroll. Covered individuals include employees and 1099 contractors working in Massachusetts. Sources describing the 2026 rules put the line at 25 or more. A restaurant with a full team of line cooks, servers, dishwashers and managers can pass 25 easily, especially if it counts part-time and seasonal staff. Count everyone on the payroll across your locations under the same federal tax number, and confirm the count method with DFML or your accountant.

What are the 2026 contribution rates?

For 2026, legal and payroll summaries report that the rates were unchanged from 2025. For employers with 25 or more covered individuals, the total is 0.88 percent of eligible wages up to the Social Security wage cap. The medical leave part is 0.70 percent, of which the employer pays 0.42 and the employee 0.28. The family leave part is 0.18 percent and is paid by the employee. For smaller employers the total is 0.46 percent, paid entirely by employees, although the employer may choose to cover part or all of it. You collect the employee share through payroll and remit it with the employer share, if any, each quarter.

The Department of Family and Medical Leave announced on October 1, 2026, according to law-firm alerts, that the total rate for employers with 25 or more covered individuals stays at 0.88 percent from January 1, 2027, and that the employer share moves from the medical part to the family part under a 2026 law. Check the DFML rate sheet before you change payroll.

What do workers receive on leave?

Eligible workers can take up to 12 weeks of paid family leave and up to 20 weeks of paid medical leave, with a combined limit of 26 weeks in a benefit year, according to summaries of the program. Benefits are a share of average weekly wages, capped by a maximum that DFML announced as $1,230.39 a week for 2026. A server who earns most of her income in tips has a benefit based on reported wages, so her pay record matters. Make sure tipped wages are reported correctly.

Benefits are paid by the state, not by you, but you have to plan for the absence. For job protection and how leave interacts with sick time and federal leave, check DFML and, if needed, an employment lawyer.

What must you post and tell your staff?

DFML requires employers to display its workplace poster where workers can easily read it, near other required notices. You must also give each new employee written notice about their PFML benefits and contribution rates, within thirty days of hire. Keep a signed copy, or a note that the employee declined to sign, in the personnel file. If many of your team speak another language at home, DFML offers translated materials, so ask for them.

How should you plan around a long leave?

A line cook out for twelve weeks is a real hole in a small kitchen. Plan before it happens.

• Cross-train two people on every station so that no one is a single point of failure.
• Keep a short list of reliable part-time and former staff who can fill shifts.
• Write simple recipe cards and prep lists, so a new cook can run a station quickly.
• Talk to the employee early about the dates and about coming back.
• Ask your payroll provider to handle the quarterly PFML filings.

Is it worth paying the staff share?

A restaurant with fewer than 25 covered individuals may pay all or part of the employee contribution. For a small team the cost is modest compared with the goodwill, and in a tight labor market a clear benefit helps keep people. It is a choice, not a rule, so ask your accountant how it affects your payroll costs and your tax position.

What mistakes do owners make?

Forgetting 1099 contractors in the count, forgetting the quarterly filing, and treating tips as outside the wage record. Another common mistake is leaving the new-hire notice for later. A tidy onboarding folder with the poster date, the notice and the tax forms avoids all of it.

Are you worried about keeping your best people?

Good benefits help, and so does a steady stream of guests who make shifts worth working. Mosey is a food-first app where diners find places by dish, mood and neighborhood and rate what they actually ate. A restaurant can host a menu page, show its best-rated dishes and reply to guests, so strong food draws steady traffic and steady shifts for the team you have worked to keep.

More guides for your business:

• Massachusetts happy hour ban: what bars and restaurants can offer instead
• What Massachusetts Question 5 means for restaurants after the 2024 vote
• Why are restaurant costs rising in Massachusetts in 2026?

More in the US guides for food businesses.